Hundreds of children were sent home from school today after a suspected chemical leak.
Glebe Junior School, in Creswick Avenue, Rayleigh, was closed after an "unpleasant, chemical-like smell" was detected.
One teacher was sick because of the fumes and the 264 pupils were sent home as they arrived.
The infant school next door was unaffected but 100 children were taken home as a precaution.
Marian Coleman, headteacher of the junior school, said: "We think it was a petro-chemical spillage where something in the drains has come up.
"The first teacher to come in was sick and as a result we sent all the children home."
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